Chapter Twelve: Investigation
"Yang Xiao Long, prepare your kingdom for battle!" Ruby exclaimed, declaring an attack on her in a game team RWBY was playing.
"Uh… Ruby, that might not be a good idea," Phoenix warned her. It had been a couple weeks since the party, and the awkwardness between them had settled down for the most part.
"Don't worry, I have a plan," Ruby told him. "I deploy the Atlesian air fleet. Now I can fly right over your Ursi and attack your wall directly."
"You fiend!" Yang declared, faking shock.
"And my repair time only lasts one turn," Ruby continued.
"Pretty sneaky sis, but I activate my trap card. Fatal Feathers," Yang said, a smug grin on her face.
"I warned you. I've played things like this with her before, and I know her strategies," Phoenix explained.
"Fear not General Phoenix, all is not lost. If she rolls a six or lower her own forces will be destroyed," Ruby stated.
"General?"
"Well since you're my adviser and stuff I figured you deserved a title. Sorry."
"I'm fine with it, I was just curious why you were calling me that."
"Sorry to interrupt you guys, but I rolled an eight," Yang interjected.
"Noooooo! My soldiers! You will be avenged!" Ruby cried.
"Perhaps you should let your general take over. After all, I know how Yang thinks, and don't plan on letting her beat us in a strategy game," Phoenix explained to a crushed Ruby.
"Anyway… it's your turn Weiss," Yang said, ignoring the discussion between Ruby and Phoenix.
"I have no idea what I'm doing," Weiss declared.
"It's simple. You're playing as Vacuo, so all Vacuo based cards get a bonus," Yang explain, and then proceeded to make Weiss's move for her.
"And this means…" she asked.
"You're only three moves from conquering all of Remnant," Ruby sobbed.
"Yes! Fear the almighty power of my forces. Cower as they-," Weiss said, suddenly acting like a villain.
"Damn, I didn't think Weiss would get as intense as us in games like this," Phoenix joked.
"Besides, I have a trap card. Your army has been destroyed," Yang declared triumphantly.
"I hate this game of emotions we play," Weiss cried out.
"Stay strong Weiss," Ruby said, clinging to her teammate.
"Shut up don't touch me."
"Two things. First of all, why are you saying don't touch me when you're clinging to her, and secondly, why the bloody hell did you let her make your move and assume she didn't have a countermeasure in place," Phoenix groaned.
"Your turn Blake," Yang pointed out.
"Uh… what am I doing?" Blake, who had been ignoring the entire situation, asked.
"You're playing as Vale, trying to conquer the kingdoms of Remnant," Yang explained.
"Can I play?" Jaune, who had come up behind them, asked.
"Sorry, but we've already got four players," Phoenix explained.
"Besides, this game requires a certain level of tactical cunning that you lack," Weiss continued.
"Bring it on Ice Queen," Jaune challenged, "I'll have you know I've been told I'm a natural born leader."
"By who, your mother?"
"Who'd have thought the Ice Queen could burn someone so badly," Phoenix thought to himself.
"Pyrrha too," Jaune stammered.
"Just let me play your hand for a turn," he pleaded.
"I'm not trusting you with the good citizens of Vacuo."
"Come on, you've trusted me with way more important stuff. You told me that Blake is a Fa-"
"Fun loving person who we all respect," Pyrrha interrupted, covering Jaune's mouth. Phoenix gave Blake a look that said "these are the people you want me to entrust my most dangerous secret to".
"Sup losers," the monkey Faunus from the docks said.
"Hey Sun," Ruby greeted him. "So, I never got the chance to introduce you to my old friend."
"Aren't libraries for reading?" the boy standing next to the Faunus who was apparently named Sun asked.
"Thank you!" Ren could be heard yelling in the background.
"Shut up. Don't be a nerd," Sun said to his friend.
"Ah ah ah, intellectual. Anyway, I'm Neptune." Shortly after he introduced himself he started flirting with Weiss.
"You're just mad because the new guy beat you," Ruby said as she, her team, and Phoenix entered their dorm.
"He wasn't the only one," Phoenix continued, grinning.
"How did you even do that? I destroyed most of Ruby's forces?" Yang asked him.
"Simple, you assumed we were out of the fight so you let your guard down, leaving you open to an attack."
"Stop," Weiss ordered, pointing at Blake.
"And this is where I take my leave. Night Ruby," Phoenix said as he left, not wanting to put up with a fight between Blake and Weiss. As he was walking back to his room, he bumped into someone. She had silver hair and bright green eyes. "Ah, sorry miss…"
"Silver, Silver Omega," the woman replied.
"A pleasure to meet you Silver," he said as he walked away. He couldn't shake the feeling that he'd seen her before, but he decided not to bring it up.
As he patrolled the streets of Vale that night, Phoenix saw a crime scene at a bookstore called "Tukson's Book Trade." Curious as to what may have happened, he decided to investigate. Unsurprisingly, the two officers who had been left to guard the scene were too busy talking to each other to notice anything. "It's times like this when I'm glad everyone in the VPD but Grant is so incompitent," he thought as he snuck in with ease.
The bloodstained floor and white outline of a body revealed at least one crime that had taken place. Phoenix began to see if he could find any clues that could help him figure out who the victim was and what had happened. The answer to several questions he had was quickly found. An autopsy report had been left lying on the counter. "If I didn't know any better I'd think that these idiots were trying to help me," he muttered. Looking through the autopsy report revealed that the victim was the store's owner, a puma Faunus named Tukson. He had been shot in the head with an unidentified firearm. The retractable claws in his fingers had been extended. Further inspection of the body revealed a tattoo of the symbol of the White Fang, indicating that he was likely a member at some point. "The tattoo is of the original symbol though, the one they used before they switched to violent tactics," Phoenix noticed as he looked at the picture of the tattoo contained in the report.
When he set the report back on the counter, Phoenix noticed shoe prints and scuff marks could be seen on it. "Tukson must have tried to attack his killer, jumping on the counter before lunging at them. That's why his claws were out," he thought. "There are no signs of a fight, and his body was in front of the counter. He must have been shot midair. Whoever did this wasn't an amature." Believing that he had an idea of what happened, Phoenix moved onto the next question. Why? "Several captured members of the White Fang have either been broken out or died under mysterious circumstances over the last couple of months. They're clearly trying to prevent any info leaks. That means they must also be targeting former members. Tukson's tattoo was of the White Fang's original symbol, so he may have been opposed to the more violent tactics and left. He must have heard about these disappearances and figured out why his killer was there. The White Fang has only started doing this recently though. They likely began to do so when they started to work with Torchwick. Cinder must be planning to use them for more than just Dust robberies. Info on Torchwick could help me find that out."
Phoenix called the ship's pilot to request a pickup after he left the crime scene. He used his grapnel gun to enter the ship as it flew over him. "Where to boss?" the pilot asked when he saw Phoenix board. Since their first encounter they'd bonded somewhat, mostly since Phoenix took to talking to him to keep his mind off flying. He had learned that the pilot's name was Leeroy Jenkins.
"Remember in the news a few months ago they mentioned a club that exploded?" Phoenix asked.
"Alright Jenkins, wait for my signal to come pick me up. Until then, wait a couple blocks east of here," Phoenix ordered Jenkins. With that he walked into the club. Most of the guards were in black suits with red sunglasses, the same outfit the thugs who robbed "Dust Till Dawn" had. He received multiple strange looks as he walked up to the counter. "I already told him I'm not giving him anymore men," Junior yelled at a small girl with an umbrella.
"I have a few questions Junior," Phoenix interrupted.
"I've got one of my own first. Who the hell are you?" Junior asked. Under Phoenix's mask, his eye twitched slightly from rage.
"It's the Flaming Shadow! How hard is it to get some bloody-!" he shouted, but was interrupted by a blow to the face from an umbrella.
"Finally some recognition," he said once he recovered. His attacker was the girl from before.
"Let me guess, you're with Torchwick. Just tell me where he is so we can avoid blowing up this nice man's club," Phoenix ordered. Her only response was to extend a blade from the end of her umbrella.
Phoenix's opening move was to send a blast of fire at her. She opened her umbrella and blocked them with it. "You know, they say opening an umbrella indoor is bad luck," Phoenix joked. With this the girl lunged at him. He jumped to the side and caught her weapon in the hooks. He tried to disarm her, but her strength was surprising for someone her size. She kicked him in the chest and freed her weapon. Phoenix fired multiple rounds at her, but she blocked them by opening up the umbrella again. When she lowered her it he'd closed in on her. He hooked on to her shoulders and pulled her into a headbutt. This dazed both of them, but the girl was first to recover. She charged at him, impaling his left shoulder. Phoenix used this as an opportunity to disarm her, breaking off the blade of her weapon while it was in him. This surprised her, allowing Phoenix to kick her in the gut.
Before the fight could continue, an airship blew up the roof of the club. "Figured you were taking too long Neo. You can play with him later," Torchwick called out. Neo ran toward the ship, but Phoenix pursued her. To get him off her tail, Torchwick fired the ship's guns at him. Phoenix dived for cover, and after a moment of hiding behind it, he leapt out and fired multiple rounds at the ship. Each of the shots went up one of the barrels of the ship's minigun. Roman quickly retreated before Phoenix could make another move.
As the adrenaline rush from the fight went away, the pain from the wound Phoenix had suffered started to seep in. "Jenkins, I need pickup."
"Who are you? What happened?" the nurse at Beacon's infirmary asked.
"Not important. I need you to treat this wound," Phoenix ordered, in too much pain to be mad about not being recognized.
Timeline wise, this a few days before episodes three and four. Sorry about the bad descriptions in the fight. Like I said before, I'm not good at that sort of thing. Also, for those of you who were wondering, Silver is Cinder in disguise. If you have any suggestions let me know, and as always, thanks for reading!
